firinci

Hi there. We need to open a Turkish bank account and the two names being suggested are Garanti Bank or Yapi Kredit. Has anyone opened an account in London for either of these two banks which can be used in Turkey. (I just don't want to spend half a day when we out there on our next holiday sorting this out)
Many thanks, Carol.

Ms Who

This is just my personal opinion but I wouldnt open with either of those. I have found out of all the Turkish Banks here, Akbank to be the best, service wise, plus their rate of exchange is normally the best around and they dont charge a receivers commission on bank transfers from the UK like some of the other Turkish Banks. The interest rate (on high interest account) is slightly lower than Garanti (0.5%) but I wouldnt bank with Garanti if you paid me as I have found them very unhelpful in the past and it seems that their attitude to customers is very "take it or leave it". Once again, this is just my personal opinion!

Harem

Sorry to disagree with you Kym - I guess it must depend on which branch of Garanti!! We have always found Garanti to be most helpful in the Fethiye area. Also, we took our friends there a couple of weeks ago to open a couple of accounts and it only took an hour!! Don't know about opening from London, although their internet banking is very consumer friendly.

Germaine

Well 2 weeks ago i opened a HSBC account in Altinkum which took 1 hour. I was offered 18% interest and more tea than i could drink. the staff were very friendly and spoke perfect english.

Andywebb

Yep sorry Kym have to agree with Harem had little problem with Garanti except for their need for you to keep changing your pin number online every so often. I also have Deniz Bank which are not bad either. As for Yapi well I think I will give that a miss.

Andy

maggie

ow germaine i am with hsbc here used to work for them in 1969 maybe i should stick with them when i move to turkey.dont drink tea think they would give me efes? loadssa love maggie xxx

immac

Garanti has been fine for me too. On-line banking is simple and phone support is very good, with operators who know their stuff and speak very good English.

Ian

RIK

I opened an account with HSBC Antalya from the UK.It's not worth it. Do it in Turkey, plus you need a Turkish Tax No.Otherwise we find HSBC Antalya perfect to deal with and would not change.Also to transfer cash from HSBC UK. to HSBC Turkey will cost you a Tenner ( any amount )

Ian

maggie

hi rik,that sounds good to me best stick with the bank ya know, cheers maggie xxxx